There is a lot of talk about “shared governance” at OU. But are we really sharing?

The Faculty Senate is Ohio University’s representative body for faculty governance. It consists of:

• 49 tenure-track faculty

• 10 instructional faculty

OU’s Faculty Senate is an advisory, not a governing, body. The Faculty Senate can pass resolutions, but the university leadership has no obligation to enact them, even when faculty support is overwhelming. If a Faculty Senate resolution is not enacted, there is no recourse for the faculty.

Unionization empowers OU’s faculty with the legal right to negotiate with university leadership and seek the working conditions we need for our university, and our students, to thrive.

• With a union, you and your colleagues decide priorities for negotiation together. The administration must then negotiate a contract with you in good faith. Once your contract is agreed upon and ratified by both the faculty and the Board of Trustees, it is legally binding.

• Union contracts can strengthen existing shared governance policies. For example, the University of Oregon’s contract allows all university policies adopted by its senate or by units/departments to be enforced through the union’s grievance procedure. BGSU’s agreement codifies faculty influence in the selection and evaluation of administrators, including the President, Vice President, and Deans.

• Unlike our current Faculty Senate, a union would place no limitations on the participation of Instructional Faculty. Instructional Faculty have taken a leading role in representing their colleagues through this unionization campaign.